Kevyn wrote:
i agree if you can't spring for a doghouse and fence you have no business with a dog
Whatever happened to natural selection and survival of the fittest? Didn't Darwin tell us that after all the genetic deficiencies were "evolved" out a particular species that the result would be a strong, fit, intelligent specimen that would adapt perfectly to whatever environment and climate it was born it? What happened to the dogs? Didn't they make the grade during the long evolutionary struggle?
Best I can tell, dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals, and others of the canine species, and all other species in the animal kingdom, are well equipped to survive in the great outdoors. They are capable of finding shelter or even building their own--wolves are particularly adept at this. How about those polar bears? What the hell are they doing up there in the frigid regions of earth, sleeping on ice and diving into cold water to snag a seal?
The question is, what did we do to the dogs to make them so timid, so dependent, so weak and vulnerable to the elements that we have to pamper them, mollycoddle them, primp them, and protect them alla time like liberalism has done to so many humans?
I was born and raised among animals, domestic and wild, they outnumbered the humans 1000 to 1. Most everyone had a dog or dogs. But, of course, we lived in rugged, mountainous country where horses were more numerous than vehicles, and we didn't go in for Chihuahuas or toy poodles or those little mouse-like yappers, ours were shepherds, hunters, pointers, setters, all the big guys.
As a young firefighter, I paid $500 for a pedigreed Malamute pup. He grew to a powerful 130 pound brute who had a natural relationship with snow. In fact, he seemed to feel he was in charge when winter came and did everything he could to make the snow behave. He was hell on icicles, snapped those babies off their perches and chewed them up like a lion eating a gazelle. Juneau was his name, he was intelligent, affectionate, playful, and comported himself like the soldier he was. Wrestling with him in the snow was a challenge and one helluva lot of fun. Juneau had no desire to be in the house, the only times we brought him in was to treat a wound or keep him out of a screaming, low temp blizzard. He wasn't much of a barker, he was a howler, a growler, a mid-night prowler.
I never chained him to anything or put him on a leash.
Pulling a sleigh was his favorite gig. I had a tow harness made for him.
I had borrowed a VW bug from a friend and was driving home from a winter outing with Juneau. He took up the entire back seat. Hit a patch of ice and the rear of the car slid off into the snow packed ditch. With the old bug's engine in the rear and drive wheels up front, I had a problem. The left front wheel was at least six inches off the ground. I tried the standard drill, rocked it back and forth, but the thing wouldn't budge. Then it dawned on me. I had help sitting the back seat. I harnessed the Commander of Winter, the captain of cold weather, to the front bumper, and he was pulling before I got back to the cab. When I got in and gunned the engine, out we rolled. When I got out to unhook him, I heard the clapping of hands. A woman across the street saw the whole thing, and she stood on her porch applauding.
I have had many animals in my care throughout my life, and none of them were pussies.